The Merchant and the Genius

A tale from The Arabian Nights Entertainments, collected by Andrew Lang

This story comes from The Arabian Nights Entertainments, collected by Andrew Lang in the nineteenth century. The Arabian Nights are tales from the Middle East and Asia, gathered over many centuries and told by the character Scheherazade to save her life. This particular tale teaches that mercy and storytelling can change even the hardest heart, and that unintended harm still carries consequences. The text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. This reader is worth a child's time because it shows how stories have power, how keeping one's word matters, and how compassion can turn aside wrath.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 565 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Andrew Lang · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.